Turncoat
by Raven of the Shades
Summary: If Chinook went over to the Dark Side aka Vampyrum. Rated K-plus for minor violence. Disclaimer: I do not own Silverwing. Sadly. Undergoing MAJOR renovations. Hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**I think it's time I lived up to my pen name, silverwing08.**

**What would have happened if Chinook went over to the Dark Side. (Occurs about in the middle of Sunwing)**

**Rating: K+**

**Genre: Drama**

**Characters: Chinook and Goth (and Froggie, who is entirely fictional)**

Chinook skimmed through the treetops. The summer breeze danced playfully through his fur, ruffling it this way and that.

There! A tiger moth fluttered around a beautiful plant, and he spiraled to catch it. Snapping up the tasty bug, Chinook looked around thoughtfully. The Vampyrum Spectrum were, for some reason, keeping him in a more lavish prison than the others. It was full of interestingly-shaped plants and the bugs he was used to up north, instead of the strange bugs down here in the jungle. Nocturna forbid they feed him the slop the other prisoners were getting!

"Respected guest, Chinook. Have you contemplated our offer for quite long enough?" a Vampyrum swooped down and landed on a branch close to Chinook's. He couldn't quite remember the Vampyrum's name, but it was somewhere along the lines of Floppy or Fishy, stupid names and suchlike. Sad.

"Yes, I do think I have had enough time to sit here thinking." An emissary called Obsidian had come to ask whether or not he would be interested in joining the Vampyrum's cause, shortly after he had been captured. He had said he'd think about it, for it was a cause he certainly appealed to. But one thing still bothered him, niggling at the back of his mind. Like a little voice, telling him, _Isn't this cause a false one? Don't these bats eat other bats? Didn't Shade say that they would eat whoever helped them, when they stopped being useful?_ Chinook had pushed the voice away, saying it didn't matter, because Shade was a pompous idiot. That building, the one they had just escaped from, Chinook would never forget that Shade had gotten them in there. _Shade doesn't care about anyone, _he thought, _just himself. _The slash on his belly still throbbed where the Humans had sewn the metal disc to him. That, that was all Shade's fault. Chinook flared his wings, swooping through the bobbing fronds of jungle plants to the branch that on which rested the emissary.

"I have most definitely arrived at a conclusion." Chinook paused for effect. "Tell your leader that I have accepted."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Shade rocketed into Statue Haven, wings beating the air madly. Gasping for air, he flopped to the base of the statue's main level. "Attack! Vampyrum! Coming... from... south..." He broke off, heaving breaths in and out. Marina flew to his side, bringing a leaf sodden with cold water.

"Rest, Shade. Drink." She pushed the leaf closer. Gratefully, Shade lapped the water off the leaf, slaking his thirst to begin his story.

"I was hunting," he began. "It was getting close to sunup, and I was making my way back here, when I saw something on the ground. It sparkled and shone like the sun. I had just gotten a good look at it when I noticed that it trailed off into the distance. Being as curious as I am, I followed it." Ignoring a reproachful look from Marina, he forged on. "I never really discovered what exactly it was that was shining, for at that moment, the sky came unstuck from Nocturna's wings. It was, indeed, the Vampyrum." He paused to lick a drop of dew that was about to fall off the edge of the leaf.

Marina started. A look of alarm spread rapidly across her face. "The Vampyrum? But they don't know we're here-" Shade cut her off.

"They nearly got me. I flew for my life. For _our _lives. We need to leave Statue Haven. Now. For all I know, they could be on their way. I could have led them right here."

Caliban spoke for the first time. "Shade, stay put. Marina, start rounding up the weak and injured. They need to be the first out of here. I'll warn everyone else." Marina started for the entrance. "No, we're leaving by the rats' tunnel. It wouldn't have collapsed, not with the supports we put up last moon. As leader of this motley crew, I am declaring a state of emergency."


	2. Chapter 2

"Quiet, please. Quiet! QUI-ET!" Goth roared for attention. "Have you all shut up? If anyone is caught talking without permission, they will become the next sacrifie to Zotz." The meeting cavern was silent. However much of an honor it was to be sacrificed, no one had a death wish.

"All right. To business. We have a Zotz convert in our midst. Chinook Silverwing, are you ready to reject the title of Silverwing and join our ranks?"

Chinook stepped forward. He swallowed. This was the big moment. "Yes," he tried to say, but it came out a squeak. He tried again. "Yes, I am."

"Repeat after me, the sacred oath. 'I solemnly swear to serve the Vampyrum Spectrum all the days of my life, never swerving, never failing. I am the agent of Zotz, a foothold of the Cause, an upholder of the Cause. I swear to live my life by the Code of Zotz. I will never break the Code. The blood of the innocent is my crown, the lives of the underlings are my glory. I will eat meat and grow strong. I swear I will give my life for Zotz. I will give my all to the Vampyrum. By Zotz, I do swear.'"

Chinook took a deep breath. "I solemnly swear..." He repeated the oath word for word, with as much conviction he could muster.

"Let it be heard today. This young bat is no longer of the name Chinook Silverwing. Your new name shall be read from the book. Voxaco!" Goth snapped.

"Yes, King Goth. Yes, yes." Voxaco scuttled forward with an enormous tome. Blowing the dust from its thick, cracked cover, he read aloud: "The Names of the Vampyrum: a royal species of pure blood and lineage." Goth stepped up to accept the thick book. Cracking it open, he laid it on a ledge of stone.

"Young bat, are you ready?" It was more of a statement than a question. Goth riffled through the ancient pages with great aplomb. Clearing his throat, Goth began the naming mantra. "Through the ancient bloodlines, life itself flows," he intoned. "From it we must pluck a single name, a pure name, one that carries no fault. That name is Vampyrum. From the Vampyrum bloodline we must pluck a royal name, one that Zotz himself would carry without shame." Flipping a few more pages, Goth bent over the tiny symbols engraved in the paper and read aloud: "Dossian Vampyrum."

The newly renamed Dossian perched proudly in front of the Vampyrum colony. He would be a good little vampire bat, and he would get honor and glory like none before him. _Just think of those poor doddering old fools back at Statue Haven, _he thought. _Scared of us! Ha! _Thoughts of revenge and hate flooded Dossian's young mind. He would see to it personally that each of those bats would pay, and pay dearly.

Froggie Vampyrum slunk out of the meeting cavern. Now that one lucky prisoner had gone and gotten himself promoted. Dossian, now was he. Practically royalty, now was he. A malicious smile spread across Froggie's face like the blood of a young rat. That could be fixed.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The makeshift colony of Statue Haven flew on through the silence. The cold nipped at all their wings, and each member felt the strength sapping from their bones. Yet none complained, not even a whimper. The situation rested heavily on the shoulders of each bat, cloaking them in silence.

"Mm-Mister Caliban?" a yearling bat ventured a whisper. "Can we rest? I'm hungry." Caliban's gaze softened. Of course his colony needed to eat to flee the Vampyrum.

After stopping at an old twisted oak tree, Caliban discovered he could move no more. From the rush of the escape, his muscles seemed to seize up. "Alright, people, let's bed here for the day. But absolutely NO NOISE. I don't want to hear a tick scratching in your fur. Every move we make could alert those spies to our presence." On that happy note, Caliban folded his wings and drifted into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
